


Missing You (is easy to do)

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9953867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Steve misses hanging out with Tony, with all the SHIELD missions and emergencies at SI keeping them apart.Fortunately for him, Natasha and Pepper know how to fix it easily enough.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (early) birthday to Politzania!!

Steve sighs and drops his shoulders as he crosses the threshold into the Tower.

"Same," Natasha murmurs behind him as she follows him in. The wind comes too, buffeting her hair and swirling around them both as the helicopter out on the roof takes off again.

Steve offers up a tired smile. "Good to be back," he agrees. JARVIS closes the door behind them, and Steve feels like he can breathe a bit easier. The SHIELD assignment hadn't been particularly long or even eventful - black market weapons dealers, though thankfully not in possession of any old Stark Industries stock - but it had seemed to drag on as they uncovered more and more of the organization. Even worse, the extended network made the debrief three times longer than usual.

Natasha gives a small smile and careful nod, already padding away towards her suite. "I'm going to go soak the rest of the jungle grit off, and Coulson save anyone who interrupts me before I've finished two chapters of my book. Have a good night, Steve," she tosses over her shoulder.

"You too," Steve calls back and then trudges down the hall to his own room. His stomach rumbles - SHIELD-provided food is never particularly satisfying - and he glances at the clock as he tosses his shield and duffel bag on his bed. "JARVIS?" he asks as he changes out his jeans for sweats, "Is Tony still awake?"

"Sir is not currently in residence, Captain Rogers," JARVIS replies.

"What?" Steve reacts, jerking his head to look up at the ceiling. "I...oh."

"There was an emergency situation in London that required his personal attention and he flew out this morning."

"I hope everything turns out okay," Steve manages to say. Sweats on, he collapses into a seat on his bed. Suddenly his exhaustion seems overwhelming; Natasha must be a secret super soldier, as Steve can't imagine attempting to stay awake in a bath or attempt to read.

"My predictions estimate the issue to be resolved in short order with Sir's motivating presence," JARVIS supplies and Steve manages a chuckle. The small pang of sympathy for the London office is quickly masked by amusement and, he can admit it to himself, a touch of resentment - that they get Tony's presence, not him. Not that he expects Tony to be waiting for him but...they'd created a routine, and Steve had a fondness for routines.

"Sir had also instructed me to place orders for delivery the moment you stepped into the Tower," JARVIS continues. "Given that Sir was unsure what type of food would be preferred, there is currently pizza, Chinese, and sandwiches in route."

"Oh! Thank you," Steve replies in surprise. "That was very thoughtful of him." And Steve's chest warms, that Tony had been expecting - possibly looking forward to - their usual post-mission dinner. Even if dinner ended up being a relative term, given that it currently is two in the morning.

Or did Tony think that Steve is just hungry after missions? It's true enough, but maybe Tony will think just the food is all this it is, which it certainly can be, but...

Eating pepperoni and sausage pizza while crashed on the couch in the common room by himself isn't quite the same. Steve doesn't feel right disturbing someone else at this hour - and while Natasha is certainly still awake, she is definitely not to be disturbed without an emergency - this ritual had worked well because Tony was generally still awake anyway. He sighs and takes another bite, and JARVIS plays highlight reels from yesterday with the sound muted. Tony had ordered more than enough food, and Steve's stomach is slowly filling. But his mind races, analyzing his moves and his orders and decisions and pointing out where he could've been better, faster, smarter.

"Captain Rogers, if you are willing to be disturbed than Sir is on the line," JARVIS says, interrupting Steve's thoughts.

"Tony? Yeah, of course," Steve says, perking up. He doesn't quite know what to do with his hands, not needing to hold a phone as JARVIS indicates a connected phone line to Tony Stark on the corner of the TV screen. "Tony?" Steve asks, setting his slice of pizza down.

"This is Iron Man, what's the situation?" And Tony's voice is clipped and serious. "Excuse me, this could be a world-ending situation," Steve hears more quietly, like Tony isn't speaking into his phone, "you know how it is." A few moments later and Tony says more firmly, "Okay, go."

Steve raises an eyebrow. "Uh, you ordered too much food? I don't think all the leftovers will fit in the fridge; it's a beef chow mein-ending situation."

"That definitely sounds like a problem," Tony agrees, voice still serious. Steve hears the closing of a door and then a chuckle. "Okay, that was absolute torture, thank you for ending that, I think my brain cells are dying. Why do I hire stupid people?" Steve can hear the smile in Tony's voice.

"You called me first," Steve reminds him, a matching smile growing on his face. "And everyone is stupid compared to you."

"Everyone, Steve? Everyone, are you sure about that - actually, what am I saying, of course you're right. Everyone _is_ stupid when compared to me, thank you for the reminder."

"It means you need to be nice," Steve reminds him, and he laughs as Tony groans in response.

"Then they need to be nice back and not schedule eight a.m. meetings that they expect me to attend," Tony replies. "At least they have decent coffee, the New York office could learn something from these guys."

"See, and here I thought I'd have to force you to finding the silver lining," Steve says, and he stretches out on the couch. If he closes his eyes, he can almost pretend Tony is in the same room. "I think I'm rubbing off on you - ah, shit," Steve finishes as he realizes what he's said.

"You're more than welcome to anytime," Tony says gleefully before he breaks into outright laughter.

Steve groans, all frustration, intentionally loud enough for Tony to hear him. But only half of it is because of the conversation - the other half is his own imagination, because if Tony was _actually here_ Steve might just be brave enough to lean over and kiss the laughter from Tony's mouth, to pin him down and slide against him, to -

"How red is your face right now? JARVIS, send me a picture," Tony orders.

"Belay that, JARVIS," Steve replies, and the nice thing about not needing to hold a phone is that he can cover his face with his hands just in case. Oh, the pictures Steve could send Tony right now if only...if only.

If only Tony were here right now so Steve wouldn't have to miss him.

"How's the emergency situation coming?" Steve asks.

"Subtle, real subtle transition there Steve-o," Tony accuses, voice teasing. "Should be resolved soon. By the end of the day, I told them, or I would give Pepper their names."

"Harsh," Steve comments but without any heat.

"Good motivation to get their shit together," Tony replies. "How was the mission?"

Steve debates several choices that he could go with. Tony has high enough clearance for the details - Tony has high enough clearance for everything, really, if he feels like putting in enough effort to hack the systems - but Steve doesn't want to think about it, and black market weapons tends to be a touchy subject. "Long," he finally decides.

Tony hums. "Figured it would be a pizza-mission, but wanted to cover all the bases just in case."

Steve barks out a laugh. "Sure, Tony." He doesn't quite agree with Tony about the type of missions relating to what food Steve would prefer - he'd eat just about anything, but Tony had a 'hypothesis' and well, Steve got food at the end of it so whatever.

"It's easy, no silverware, usually simple flavors, it's a good choice Steve. Especially Joe's pizza," Tony insists.

"Sure, Tony."

"I can hear you humoring me from five time zones away."

"Sure, Tony," Steve repeats and he stares at the TV screen with what he knows is a sappy smile. At least the news is still playing, and JARVIS isn't showing a picture of Tony or anything. Steve doesn't have to let himself feel too pathetic, then.

"See, I think you need to come to London and train these guys. This is the appropriate response to all of my demands: Yes, Tony. Sure, Tony. Okay, Tony."

"As you wish," Steve replies.

Tony coughs, just once. "That one works too," he replies, his voice back to teasing.

Steve laughs. "Of course it does," he slurs. The warm feeling in his chest is sending him almost to sleep, right on the couch, but he doesn't want to stop talking to Tony.

"You falling asleep on me, Rogers?"

"No," Steve replies, even as he closes his eyes and settles farther back into the couch cushions.

"Uh huh," Tony agrees skeptically. "So JARVIS hasn't turned off the news and lowered the lights down to ten percent, then?"

"I don't know," Steve mutters as he curls up a bit, not bothering to open his eyes to check. Either JARVIS had already done or just did what Tony suggested.

"People would line up to pay for a few minutes of my time, and you're falling asleep," Tony teases, but his voice is softer, quieter.

"You have my full attention," Steve argues, even as the warmth in his chest lulls him closer and closer to sleep.

"Get some sleep, Steve. I'll be home soon."

Steve doesn't quite remember what he murmurs in response, but he remembers Tony laughing at whatever it was before he drifts off into the warmth.

Unfortunately, despite Tony's high hopes, the emergency in production only rolls over into a emergency in shipping, and it takes another two days to track down the issue to a half-finished piece of code that transfers project files from one database to the next.

By the time Tony is on a flight back home, Steve is called to suit up for SHIELD.

They're both busy people - exceptionally so, in Tony's case - but since Steve moved into the Tower their schedules haven't ever been so opposite as they are in over the next three weeks. His expectations shift so that he's now happy with even a quick five minute phone call, and he thanks JARVIS every time for letting them know when the other has a few free minutes.

Still, the warmth Steve feels whenever gets a chance to talk to Tony doesn't compare to the burn of missing him.

 

* * *

 

Pepper takes a sip of her latte before setting it down with a sigh. "Unfortunately I haven't been able to finish a single book with all the production issues we've been having lately."

Natasha makes a sympathetic grimace as her hands circle her cup of tea. "Incompetence?"

Pepper laughs, quiet and soft. "There's a bit of that _always_ , but right now it's more the natural issues that crop up with trying to keep ground-breaking projects on schedule."

Mornings are not Natasha's favorite time of day, but they are the only guaranteed time to catch up with Pepper before the CEO starts a long and often unpredictable day. Coffee chats generally give way to urgent business matters that, in Natasha's experience as an assistant, were rarely truly urgent but did need to be dealt with. Any personal time Pepper gets is usually in the mornings, and Natasha does have the flexibility to accommodate when she's  home.

"Well long flights are good for something. I'll add 'Death Sits Down to Dinner' to your list," Natasha says before taking a long sip of her tea.

"At this rate you'll be so far ahead it won't even be a competition anymore," Pepper sighs as she marks the title in her phone. When they had discovered they both had a love for mysteries, they had started exchanging the titles of their favorites. It became a competition, each recommending a new book they'd finished that the other hadn't read yet. Given frequent flights as well as a competitive streak - Natasha is currently several books ahead.

Natasha offers a small smile. "Vacations are good for that," she reminds Pepper.

Pepper grins. "A vacation! I don't even remember what that is." She sighs. "Maybe after this project goes online and we deal with the initial marketing and PR show business. Then...maybe."

Natasha shakes her head, knowing that that means.

"Do you have vacation plans?" Pepper asks, half questioning and half accusing.

Natasha hides a smile behind her tea. "I'm better when I'm working."

"That makes one of us," Pepper smiles, resting her chin on one hand. "Maybe if you were my assistant again, this would be easier to handle."

"SHIELD would be lost without me," Natasha demurs.

"Well, it was a worth a shot," Pepper sighs. "If a tripled salary and lack of bullets doesn't do it, I suppose nothing will." Pepper gives a small grimace before she looks down at her phone. "Now, onto business matters."

Natasha sets her teacup down. "It doesn't appear that our attempts to arrange things have been successful."

Pepper huffs. "No, I would say not - not recently, anyway. We had been doing so well at keeping them free at the same time, but I also can't afford to not sending Tony to see to these matters personally."

"Of course not," Natasha agrees. "And SHIELD has been constantly going to Steve lately, even for more minor issues because he doesn't say 'no.'"

"So our boys need a vacation of their own..." Pepper says before sighing. "Unfortunately I can't afford to have Tony unavailable right now. We need this product launch to be smooth for a good quarter and a calm Board."

"Well, maybe only one of them needs a vacation," Natasha points out.

Pepper smiles, a full grin, fully on board.

 

* * *

 

 

The door to his office bursts open, and Steve is already reaching for his shield as he looks up.

"Tony!" Steve exclaims, leaping to his feet.

"Why are you in here?" Tony asks, though he comes in and shuts the door behind him. Steve slips around his desk and it has been so long, that Steve doesn't let himself get tripped up before he slides his arms around Tony in a quick hug. One that is returned, and Steve makes himself let go before he hangs on too long.

"This is my office," Steve reminds him as he steps back.

Tony fiddles with his sunglasses. "Yes, but why are you _here_? There aren't even any windows! How do they give Captain America an office without any windows? That has to breaking some kind of law."

"It's fine, I'm rarely here," Steve interrupts before Tony can actually try to do anything about getting Steve a different office. He rarely spends his time on the Helicarrier, even though they provided him with a small room and office. It had been better, homier, doing any additional work at the Tower when SHIELD didn't need him in person. Fortunately all the helicopter pilots - and before, Iron Man - were happy to ferry him back and forth when needed.

"Exactly - so why _are_ you here?"

"I didn't think you were supposed to be back for another three days," Steve replies, which he is all too aware is an indirect answer to Tony's question, but hopefully one that Tony doesn't catch. It had been harder getting his work done knowing the Tower was emptier without Tony.

"Well, I should be in Riyadh," Tony admitted. "And I'm going," Tony insists at Steve's look, "of course I'm _going_ , I'm just a little late. Pepper totally expects that, she knows me. I just heard that you might be in line for some vacation and might want to come with." The last sentence is tossed out, nonchalant, but Tony won't look at him, is apparently distracted by the picture of the Statue of Liberty someone decided would be funny to put in his office.

"I am?" Steve asks, his heart beating fast.

"I mean, you're Captain America, not slave labor. I imagine they can't prevent you, if you want, vacations are pretty standard even for SHIELD I would think. But I get that you've been busy lately so I totally understand if -"

"Tony, I would love to come," Steve interrupts, reaching out a hand to lightly squeeze Tony's shoulder. "Let me just check with Hill first, okay?"

"You don't want to just sneak off and ride my jet into the sunset?" Tony asks, smile bright and Steve wonders if Tony is as pleased as Steve is right now.

"It's not even three in the afternoon. And we wouldn't be flying the right direction," Steve points out as he picks up his desk phone and makes the call.

"That is not the point!" Tony splutters and Steve waves him quiet.

"This is Hill," Maria answers the phone. "Rogers, you're officially on leave as of noon today. I don't want to hear any arguments, just get me those documents from the Rwanda mission and go home."

Steve stares at Tony, blinks, and then rushes out, "Will do, thank you," and hangs up the phone. "What is this? How does everyone know I'm on leave but me?"

"I don't know," Tony says with a shrug. "JARVIS told me."

Steve shakes his head with a smile. He grabs a pile of papers, already signed and dated, from the stack on his desk."Well let's get out of here before -"

Tony puts his hand over Steve's mouth, muffling the rest of the sentence. "Don't finish that sentence," he hisses, "or it will happen."

Steve blinks at him. He briefly contemplates licking Tony's hand, but then Tony pulls it away. "Isn't it against your science-explains-everything mentality to believe in a superstition?"

"There's no harm in being careful," Tony says, and he opens the door and ushers Steve out of his office. He grabs a passing agent. "Here, kid, be an upstanding citizen and take these documents to the Deputy Director for Captain America, won't you?" he says, transferring the papers in Steve's hand to the agent's outstretched ones.

"Tony!" Steve hisses in protest, but the agent is already nodding.

"Happy to, sir," she says before saluting Steve and walking away, papers in hand.

Steve glares, but Tony simply tugs him in the other direction. "Come on, party time! You're officially on leave!"

In the wake of Tony's excitement, Steve can't help but smile and follow along. Being around Tony again - finally - it causing that warmth in his chest to bloom again, and now it's almost too much.

Too much, because Steve can't stop thinking of hugging Tony again. Or at least wrapping an arm around his waist, or holding his hand. Maybe sliding up right next to him, leaning too close, and -

"Steve! I can't believe this, you aren't falling asleep on me again, are you? Because I'm much less forgiving at three in the afternoon," Tony warns as he ushers Steve up the stairs into the jet.

"Sorry, just thinking," Steve replies. He bites his lip and tries to keep his mind in reality.

It's difficult - more difficult than it should be, especially with Tony finally right in front of him. But all Steve can think are his thoughts of what he promised he would be brave enough to do, if Tony was present. He isn't surprised that he's content to sit back and relax with Tony explaining some latent mishap with elaborate hand gestures and probably more comedy than had present at the real event.

They were headed to Riyadh, though. Steve didn't even pack a bag, it was such a spontaneous vacation. Sure, Tony would be working, but there had to be moments coming up that would be the perfect time to...to...Steve could barely mange it in his own head. To ask Tony out on a date. Not as friends. Because friendship was great, their friendship was great - but Steve also wanted to be able to haul Tony in and kiss him when he came home. To slide over and wrap an arm around him on the couch during their post-mission dinners.

And the number of times Steve had fantasized about kissing his way around the arc reactor...

Steve realizes that Tony is staring at him. "What?" he asks, running a hand through his hair.

Tony shakes his head, a small smile on his face. "Nothing, what, did I say anything? You're getting senile in your old age."

Steve rakes his eyes over Tony - suit jacket tossed over an arm, shirt collar open and tie loose around his neck. He forces the words out from where they're getting stuck in his throat. "I missed you, Tony."

Tony's face softens, the smile turning up even more. "Of course you did. I'm the life of the party."

"What, you didn't miss me at all?" Steve asks, a joke but also ducking his head.

Tony waits until Steve meets his eyes again, gaze warm. "Because that's why I'm kidnapping you and taking you with me to another country. Got it in one, Cap."

Steve smiles, and Tony smiles back. The warm feeling in Steve's chest grows and grows as the moment stretches between them, golden and sweet. Steve feels like he's drowning in it.

Tony finally glances away, clearing his throat and shifting.

Yeah, Steve thinks, his heart racing. There's going to be a moments, plenty of them, during this vacation for him to ask. To be brave enough. But this one is good enough.

Steve takes a huge breath.

"Hey Tony? I got a question for you."

 


End file.
